among the Devils once again, their pathetic soldiers would be no match for his dreaded Qal-Et-Hada. ››› Warriors of God.››› His minions were perfect. Their reaction times were instantaneous. They could almost react before an event. Almost prescient. His latest 'batch' of soldiers had developed even better than he had hoped. They would live for an indefinite amount of time. They had the strength of fifty Devils. They cared not for pain. ››› Zerr's abilities began to wear off, and he popped in another capsule of neron. No, the Devils would stand no chance. He had not visited Humanity in centuries, but he knew. The neron was a treasure of the universe. No event or action was hidden from him. No secret or knowledge too complicated. While he was not genetically engineered, he was the epitome of a supreme being. ››› Closing his eyes once again, Zerr deleted the DNA strand he had been working on. A life, although a mutated one, was gone. ››› Ye giveth, and Ye taketh.››› Opening a blank triple helix, Zerr began choosing bases. Ten of them in all to choose from. God had shown who was the supreme race. The Devils had only four bases. They could never engineer the marvels he had accomplished, no matter how advanced they became. The more combinations, the more traits you could produce. ››› Slowly, his DNA molecule built, as his supernatural abilities allowed him to see his product. He coded for only the traits he wanted. Speed, agility, strength, resilience; the list went on. He would code for the less important things later: Organs, skin, personality. He wanted his troops to serve one purpose. They had no reason to be caring, or giving. They had to be almost mindless if they were to do his bidding. Working for several more hours, Zerr finally completed his being, and began the replication process. ››› Yes, this one will be more than perfect.››› Zerr had coded for an unusual amount of Huren metal to be used in the replication process. The Devils may be evil, but they were not stupid. Not only would his warriors be perfect in combat, they could not be killed easily. ››› Each bone was completely coated with the Huren. The bones would not break. Even vital organs that did not have to expand and contract had been coated to reduce the risk of having organs ruptured in combat. ››› Logging off his terminal, Zerr stared at the replication tank. A normal Covenant would not see it, but he did. His vision was unprecedented. Four cells, and dividing quickly. It would take several hours to complete his creation, then his cloning machine would take over, and replicate the same being a hundred fold. ›Until then, Zerr would go outside, and be with his beloved people. That wasn't entirely true. He loved his people, but they obeyed him only out of fear. ››› The Master of Life could do many things.››› All non-synthetic children had to be cleared by Zerr himself. Typically, subjects would make requests, and Zerr would create a being following those requests. Otherwise, Zerr decreed his want to examine the conceived infant, and would correct any genetic mistakes if the parents wished it. ››› It was here that Zerr had his greatest triumphs. Once given the embryo, he could take his revenge if a family had displeased him. Zerr would alter the infant's DNA, creating horrible defects. Limbs in the wrong places, limbs on backwards, infant with no limbs at all, no mouth or eyes. The list went on. ››› When the infant was full grown, he would return it to the parents. Although, he had done no such thing in centuries. At the start of his rule, he had performed many such corrections. No one had questioned him after that, not when he commanded the mightiest army in existence, the Qal-Et-Hada. ››› Powering up his shields and turning off his hover-belt, Zerr walked outside, and patted the dual-bladed knife at his side. ›Popping yet another capsule of neron into his gaping mouth, the events of today, tomorrow, and the next one hundred years opened up to him. ››› Zerr frowned. He so disliked killing. He'd much rather capture the offender, make multiple copies of the criminal, then watch the multiples of that one person slaughter each other. Zerr smiled, he enjoyed his twisted mind more than he should. ››› Walking down a street paved in glistening metal, Zerr stared into the afternoon sky. The neighboring sun loomed overhead, emitting blue light down to the planet's surface. Many warriors, Elites, walked down the streets, mumbling to each other, or walking alone. Those Elites were God-Children. Conceived by two parents. He had been like them once. He was once an Elite. But no longer. He still retained the same build as an Elite. But everything about him was different. His internal chemistry had been changed, almost beyond his own understanding. ››› Ah, the magic of neron.››› The God-like substance had kept him alive for almost three centuries, and would continue to do so for many more. He understood nothing about the substance, only that it was the only thing holding his aged body together, even though he looked to be amazingly young. ››› All forays into the chemical make-up of neron had failed miserably. Zerr had no idea how the substance worked, only that it did. ››› Continuing down the street, Zerr spotted a large Elite headed straight for him. Not one of his creations. As he walked, his gaze never broke from Zerr. ››› The Master sighed, and played the unsuspecting fool. Although he was not engineered, no one could defeat him in combat. He knew what his opponent would do even before his opponent did. The Elite passed Zerr, then stopped, turned and followed the Warlord. ››› The Master tapped the dual-knife at his side, and spun to face his stalker. The Elite was surprised, but struck immediately. Zerr, threw up one hand before the Elite even threw the punch. ››› As if things were moving in slow motion, Zerr saw the energy blade clipped to the Elites belt. ›He won't even have time to touch it.››› In the blink of an eye, Zerr hefted his dual-knife and lashed out. ››› Deceit and treachery.››› Zerr knew the Elite believed the blade would harmlessly bounce off his shields. Zerr wasn't that stupid. As the blade flew forward, it connected with shields, and an EMP was emitted, shorting out the Elite's shields. The knife kept going, penetrating deep into the Elite's neck. ››› Withdrawing, Zerr made sure to keep the blood on the knife. He would use it later. ››› They don't understand what I am, after all these centuries.››› Zerr had put down dozens of assassination attempts in the past three hundred years. None of them ever came close. Someday, they will learn. Zerr walked off shaking his head, pretending nothing had happened, as astonished Covenant gaped at what had just taken place.